WATSONVILLE -- More than a dozen students sat at desks in Watsonville High School math teacher Vivian Moutafian's classroom about 12:45 p.m. Thursday.

Nevermind that it was lunch break, and most of their peers were streaming downtown to pick up food. In Moutafian's classroom, textbooks and graphing calculators shared desktops with sandwiches and bags of chips.

It's always like this, at lunch and after school, said Jenniefer﻿ Jacinto, a 17-year-old senior. Moutafian's always available to help her students.

Though Jacinto said she was always good at math, the thought of tackling precalculus this year made her nervous. She said she shouldn't have worried about signing up for Moutafian's class.

"I came here and she made me relax and understand," Jacinto said.

Moutafian's dedication to her students, her ability to guide them through the challenges of advanced mathematics, was recognized Wednesday when the California League of High Schools, Region 5, honored her as teacher of the year.

She was among 14 teachers nominated for the honor from the region, which encompasses Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey counties.

Principal Elaine Legorreta nominated Moutafian, who has taught at Watsonville High for 32 years. Moutafian is a model teacher who engages students with questions and challenges them to get beyond plugging in formulas to a deeper understanding of math, she said.

"She loves it when they're all stumped including herself and they're figuring it out," Legorreta said. "After 32 years, the thing that's so beautiful is that she still believes she has so much to learn. She knows (teaching) is an art and you never master it. She's very inspiring to other people that way."

That she was singled out is a little embarrassing, Moutafian said. Watsonville High is filled with dedicated teachers, many of whom have more challenging assignments than hers, she said. She also works part time so she can put in the extra hours and still go home after 40. Other teachers work 60 or 80 hours to support their students, she said.

Moutafian said she's doing what she loves.

"I love math, and I love the kids," she said. "I think they know it."

Indeed, she's the kind the teacher students confide in, and former students write to, return to visit, even, in one case, ask her to officiate at their wedding ceremony. She agreed.